Railway-switch.



S. A. CRAIG & B1 F. DARBYSHIRE.

RAILWAY swmm. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1913 1,084,730. Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 i I I d I I n HHHH A m MM/ s. A. CRAIG & B. P. DARBYSHIRE RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 27, 1918.

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ttjtsllTED STATES PA rENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL A. CRAIG AND BENJAMIN F. DARBYSHIRE, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Tor ll whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SAMUEL A. CRAIG and Bnx-JAMIN F I)ARBYSHIRE, citizens of the United States, residing at El Paso, in

the county of El Paso and State of Texas,

have invented certain new and useful lm- 'n'ovements in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railway switches and more particularly to switches which are especially adapted for use upon street railway tracks, the object of the invention being to provide a switch throwing device of novel construction adapted to be operated by a tripping device carried below the car platform in position to be controlled by the motorman.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a switch operating mechanism of the above character which will possess advantages in points of elliciencyand durability, is inexpensive of manufacture and at the same time is simple in construction and operation. I With the above and' other objects in view, this invent-ion consists in the novel features of construction and the combination and arragemeut of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the front end of a car illustrating the application of our invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the switch; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the operating mechanism; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating the mounting of the switch throwing member; Fig. 5 is a top plan view; Fig. (3 is alongitudinal sectional view; and Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, 1 indicates the main traclfirails and the pivot switch point which is operated by means of the reciprocating bar 3 inclosed with a suitable casing 4 arranged between the track rails. The upper face of said casing is provided with an elongated slot or opening 5 through which projects the upwardly turned end of the operating bar 3. The upturned end of the operating bar 3 is provided with a head 6 and a reduced neck portion 7 the purpose of which will be more fully set forth hereinafter. From this it will be seen that by the longitudinal move- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 27, 1913.

Patented Jan. 20. 1 914.

Serial No. 792,165.

The upturned end of the bar 3 is adapted for engagement by means of a shoe 8 which is inovably supported from beneath the platform of the car 9 and which is preferably in the form of an elongated plate tapered at one end to a point 10, which is slightly upturned with respect to the body of the plate, as clearly discloseddn Fig. 6. This shoe 8 which is rigidly secured to the lower end of a vertical supporting shaft 11 is mounted for endwise and axial movement, the upper end of the same being provided with a head 12 which is arranged within the opening 13 formed in the car bot tom, said opening being closed at the ends thereof, by means of the plates 14. Arranged within the opening 13 and surrounding the upper end of the shaft 11 is a coil spring 15, one end of which bears against the lowermost plate, while the upper end thereof bears against the flange of the head member 12 so as to normally retain the shaft and the shoe in a raised position above the upturned end of the bar 3.

The shaft 11 is provided at its medial portion with an opening in which is arranged the transverse pin 16 having eyes 17 formed at each end thereof to which are connected the rods 18, the forward ends of said rods being connected to a second transverse pin 19 which extends through a suitable opening formed within the lower end of the operating shaft 20. From this it will be seen that upon the rotation of the operating shaft 20, the shaft 11 will be rotated to move the shoe 8 from one side of the upturned end of the bar 3 to the other, so that the bar may be readily reciprocated to throw the switch point 2 toward or away from the main track rail. I

A retractable spring plate 21 is provided, one end of which is rigidly secured to the forward end of the car platform, as shown at 22, said plate being then bent down wardly and rearwardly, as shown at 23, the rear end thereof being provided with an elongated opening 24, in which is arranged the shaft 11. The rear end of the plate 21 bears upon the upper face of the transverse pin 16 so that upon the downward movement of the rear end of the plate, the shaft 11 will be forced downwardly to engage the pointed end of the shoe 8, with the upturned I end of the ope 'ating bar 3, to actuate the switch point.

The spring plate 21 isactuated by means of a vertically disposed reciprocating rod 25, the lower end of which bears upon the medial portion ofthe plate and which is mounted within a suitable opening in the bottom of the car platform and provided at its upper end with a head 26 to-limit the downward movement of said rod when act-uating the shoe. The upper end ofthe operating shaft is bifurcated and arranged within said bifurcation is the inner end of a. lever 27-, which is pivotally secured to the upper end of the shaft.- The outer end of said lever is adapted to be normally disposed between either set of the pins 28 according to the direction in which the switch point is to be thrown.

' From the above description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings,

- the operation of our improved switch opcrating device will be readily apparent asfol-lo'.ws:Should the operator desire to leave the main track to run-on to the switch, the lever' 27 is removed from between one set of pins, the operating shaft 20 rotated so as to rotate the shaft 11 and dispose-the shoe according to the direction the car is to take, soethat the-shoe will engage upon'the outer side of the neck portion 7 forcing the bar 8 over toward the main track rail,.said

bar carrying the switch point so that the switch will-be readily thrown to a closed position. As'the carnearsthe switch, the operator places his foot upon the head 26 of the rod 25, downward pressure thereof forcing downwardly upon the plate 21 which bears against the cross pin 16 so that the shoe 8 will-be moved downwardly with the plate.- As the shoe engages the neck portion? of the upturned'end of the bar 3, it will force the same in the direction opposite to which-the shoe is turned so that the switch point may be readily thrown to an open or closed position. As the upper end of the rod 25 is released, the coil spring 15 will readily return the shoe to its raised position, the spring plate 21 also retracting and mov ing the rod upwardly to its operative position.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that we have pro vided a simple and durable switch opera? l .device, whereby the switch points may t,

quickly and readily thrown to an open it closed position without the necessity of the operator leaving the car.

It will also be apparent that the device is extremely simple in construction, and can be manufactured at a comparatively low cost.

While we have shown and described the preferred form of our invention, it will be obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carrying our invention into practice without sacrificing any of the novel features or departing from the scope of the appended claims. 7

What we claim is r l. A device of the class described includ ing a support having a transverse opening, ashaft having one end mounted within said opening, plates closing the ends of said opening, a coil spring normally disposed between the end of the shaft and one of the plates to normally retain the end of the shaft in one end of the opening, a shoe carried by the outer end ofthe shaft, and means for imparting endwise and axial movement to the shaft, as and for the purpose set forth: 2. A device of the class described including' a support, a shaft carried by the support and capable of endwise and axial movement, a shoe carried by the outer end of the support, a transverse pin mounted in the medial portion of the shaft, an operating shaft, rods connecting the endsof said pin with the operating shaft, a retractable plate having one end rigidly secured to the support and the other end bearing upon the transverse pin, means bearing against said plate to force the same into engagement with the transverse pin and impart endwise movement to the shaft, means for rotating the operating shaft to impart axial movement to the shaft, as and for the purpose set forth. In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL A. CRAIG. BENJ. F. DARBYSHIRE; Wit-nesses for Samuel A. Craig:

J. E. Vrcnnas, RICHARD LOGAN. Nitnesses for Benj. 1*. Darbyshirc:

W. W. Evans, EVELYN BUOH-ANAN.

Copies of this patent'may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Eatencs, Washington, I). G. 

